Park defeated 6-1

vs Chanhassen

Boys’ tennis was challenged by strong wind and heat during their first match of the season April 13. Despite the matches being back and forth, Park ultimately lost to Chanhassen 6-1. Sophomore Thomas Halverson said it was a hard but successful match with the team as the wind gave a great disadvantage.

“It was a very windy day so there were rough conditions,” Halverson said. “Chanhassen is always a great team so I think we played well, but there’s always room to improve.”

Sophomore Crew Lund said the team is in high spirits and supportive despite it being the first match of the season.

“We’re all really close together,” Lund said. “We definitely support one another, so the spirit has been high and I’m hoping we can take that energy into the next match and throughout the rest of the season.”

Head coach Greg Holmbeck said that the team captains are helping keep morale and motivation up and get ready for the season.

“(Our team spirit) is great. We have two really great captains, Sam Wolden and Frankie Robello. They’ve done a really good job at keeping everything organized,” Hombeck said. “Everybody seems really

Meet The Athlete

Why did you start playing ultimate?

My dad started playing ultimate in college and he introduced it to me when I was five or six. I’ve been playing ever since.

How do you manage practices, along with academics and social life?

It gets difficult at times, but I try to prioritize going to practices as much as I can and also prioritizing time for school. I get busy sometimes, but I make it work.

motivated and keen to play — I get the feeling that they just want to play more and more.”

Halverson said tennis can be both a physical and mental challenge for him and has specific aspects of his game that he wants to improve in.

“My biggest challenge in tennis is moving my feet — I tend to get stuck and then caught on my heels,” Halverson said. “Keeping my A-game in mind every match is important too.”

Lund said that although the team did a good job at getting ready before the season, they have a long and busy schedule ahead of them.

“We definitely prepared pretty well for the season, but I think we still have a lot of work to do,” Lund said. “We have a pretty tough schedule, so we’re going to have to prepare for every match day.”

Holmbeck said he is excited about what the young varsity team has to offer this year.

“I feel really positive about the season right now,” Holmbeck said. “We lost three of our tougher singles and one of our doubles teams last year, so we lost half of the team. In some ways it’s a rebuilding year, but I feel really positive about the improvements we can make and we’ll see what happens going forward.”

April 20

April 25

April 26

April 27

VS. BSM

VS. Chaska

VS. Richfield VS. Waconia

What is the hardest part of the ultimate season?

In April, because practices are intense at that point and also getting really busy with school, AP tests and finals. Right at the end of the school year with AP tests it gets harder to manage school.

Who is your role model in ultimate and why?

My dad, because he is a good player and he has a good attitude towards ultimate and sports in general. He always comes into it trying to have fun, which I really like and want to do myself.

What skills do you think are important to have for ultimate?

Throwing skills, catching skills, running and it’s also important to know strategy and what to do on the field. Ultimate is self-officiated. It’s important to have communication skills so that you can discuss calls on the field.

What is your favorite memory from ultimate?

Last year when we went to nationals it was really fun. The whole trip was awesome. It was really fun to hang out with the team before and after games. The tournament was really fun.

“ Ten minutes late to classs shouldn’t mean an absence because I don’t think there’s a lot going on in the first ten minutes.”

Ellie Minnick, sophomore